Lando Norris was told by his McLaren team not to let Oscar Piastri pass him as he relinquished victory at the end of the sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Exiting the final corner, Norris slowed and moved to the inside to give Piastri a clear run at the line, returning the favor to his teammate and giving him victory in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint. Norris then revealed that the team told him not to switch positions because George Russell was too close behind Piastri, but he ignored that request.
“It was probably a little closer than I wanted, but I’ve been meaning to do it since Brazil,” said Norris. “Just what I thought was best, probably a bit vague. The team told me not to do it, but I thought I could get away with it and we did.
“So to be honest I don’t mind, I’m not here to win sprint races, I’m here to win races and a championship – but that’s not according to plan. So I did what we could and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Norris says he only told his race engineer that he intended to give up the position if given the chance, and he believes few other teammates would operate in a similar manner.
“It wasn’t something that was really discussed. I didn’t have to do it if I didn’t want to. I told my engineer I would do it. So he was probably the main one who knew about it. And I told him before the race that if we have a small gap and we are first and second, I would try it.
“So he knew and he told me not to do it because I think the gap with George was probably a bit too small for their liking. But Oscar has done his part by helping me get closer to Max in the championship and give that opportunity a chance.
“I earned the right to get a chance and that’s how we have to work as a team, if any of us get that chance. And I returned the favor today.
“I don’t think any of us take pride in necessarily winning a sprint race, nor are we that unhappy about giving up a sprint race win. But we work well together as a team, and I think that’s probably one of our biggest strengths, is how well we work together.
“I don’t think any other team would do something like this and help each other as much as we did for each other this year. It is our strength and we will continue to do so.”
